Suez: Choke Hold On World Shipping - Business Insider Suez: Choke Hold On World Shipping Feb. 9, 2011, 4:00 AM 1,372 print The Suez Canal is one of the most important maritime passages in the global shipping world. It provides a short cut around the tip of Africa, saving weeks of travel time for large commercial shippers. It was opened to traffic between Asia and the Mediterranean Sea in 1869. And, it is a potential choke point! The canal is a free flowing body of water, with no built in locks. The north terminus is in Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik in Suez. Today the canal is 120 miles long and 79 ft deep with a width of 673 ft, as of 2010. The SuezMax ships must be built to the following specs, 66 ft of draft, with a width of 164 ft and max height of 223 ft above water, with a max deadweight of 240,000 tons. The canal is the primary choke point between trade in Asia and Europe.

It was shut down from 1967-1975. During those 8 years, all shipping was routed around Africa, or moved overland. While 1975 seems like a long time ago, there is no reason to believe that the Suez will always stay open. It already has a history of long closures. The employees of the Suez Canal Company have started a sit-in strike. The strike is starting with 6000 employees in the port cities of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia. The strikers plan on sitting down on site, after their shift is over. While their demands are typical of any organized worker, the ongoing revolution with a strike at the Suez Canal ratchets up the travel risk for any planned commercial traffic planning on using the Suez Canal going forward. Bloomberg is reporting the strikers to be of subsidies of the Suez Company, allowing operations to continue normally during the strike. Egypt’s Suez Canal shipping traffic is operating normally, Mohamed Motair, director of companies at the Suez Canal Authority, said by telephone today. Reuters is also reporting that the works in question do not have a direct effect on the canal operations.

“The strike by companies will not affect the operation of the Suez Canal and movement of ships. These companies work in areas far from the canal zone and movement of ships,” the official told Reuters. The canal currently handles the heavy tanker traffic between Europe and the Middle East. This traffic is two way, with nations like Iran exporting crude oil, but importing up to 40% of their gasoline needs. This two way traffic uses the canal to transship the products. The canal is estimated to handle up to 2.5 million barrels of oil per day via large crude tankers transshipping the canal each day. There is also an estimated 2.4 million barrels of crude capacity that is available using the facilities to unloaded/loaded at the northern or southern ports. This second flow of products is delivered to the ports via tankers that are too large to use the canal. Additionally, some ships will unload a portion of their cargo, and have it transshipped to the other end of the canal via the pipeline. This allows ships to still use the canal, and carry an overall load that is larger than the canal max would allow. The canal is reported to handle around 8% of the world’s GDP.

While a closure would slow down the flow of goods, it would not cause a drop in global GDP that large. The US is reported to have about 3% of its GDP transship the canal. While the global macro implications are large, the geopolitical risks are higher. A closure of the canal, such that the US Navy was unable to pass through it would cause a change in the US forward deployment of forces. The US Navy uses the Med as a safe location to park additional carriers, rushing them into the Red Sea as needed, to surge air assets during Gulf wars. While the US has plenty of naval assets in the region, the closure of the canal would directly impact the US ability to surge assets as needed. This would have obvious implications during an event that included hostilities in the region between nation-states. The revolution in Egypt appears to be gaining strength. The canal is one of those locations in the world, where Global Macro economics runs smack into GeoPolitics. Revolutions have funny ways of turning out differently than how everyone planned. The Suez canal, and control of it will be at the top of someone’s list in the future. It currently generates 3.4% of Egypts GDP. That is not an insignificant number.

The canal gives everyone a vested interest in what happens next in Egypt. Link of Interest to the Story Ahram Online WhatWasThere | Suez Canal in El Qantra Shark, Egypt - 1860s 1860s Suez Canal Description The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ Qanāt al-Sūwais), also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. Ismailia lies on its west bank, 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the half-way point.

More at User Suez Canal, Egypt Tourist Information Locals and travelers to connect with About Egypt 30.70532.3442 The Suez Canal, also known by the nickname "The Highway to India ", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt , connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea . Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows transportation by water between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa . The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. Ismailia lies on its West Bank , 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the half-way point. When first built, the canal was 164 km (102 mi) long and 8 m (26 ft) deep. After multiple enlargements, the canal is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long, 24 m (79 ft) deep and 205 metres (673 ft) wide as of 2010.

It consists of the northern access channel of 22 km/14 mi, the canal itself of 162.25 km/100.82 mi and the southern access channel of 9 km/5.6 mi. The canal is single lane with passing places in Ballah By-Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks; seawater flows freely through the canal. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. The current south of the lakes changes with the tide at Suez. The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. Under international treaty, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag." Map Suez Canal S Suez Canal The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt , connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea . Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa . The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez .

The canal is 192 km (119 mi) long with Ismailia, on the west bank, 3 km (2 mi) north of the half-way point. It consists of the northern access channel of 19.5 km (12.1 mi), the canal itself of 162.25 km (100.82 mi) and of the southern access channel of 8.5 km (5.3 mi). It is single-lane with passing places in Ballah By-Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks; seawater flows freely through the canal into the Great Bitter Lake from both the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the south, replacing evaporation. The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The canal may be used in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag. History of Suez Canal Ancient west-east canals have facilitated travel from the Nile to the Red Sea. One smaller canal is believed to have been constructed under the auspices of either Senusret II or Ramesses II .

Another canal probably incorporating a portion of the first was constructed under the reign of Necho II and completed by Darius. 2nd millennium BCE The legendary Sesostris (likely either Pharaoh Senusret II or Senusret III of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt) is suggested to have perhaps started work on an ancient canal joining the River Nile with the Red Sea (1897 BC–1839 BC). (It is said that in ancient times the Red Sea reached northward to the Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah.) In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote: <Blockquote>One of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.</Blockquote> Strabo also wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, and Pliny the Elder wrote: 165.

Next comes the Tyro tribe and, on the Red Sea, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II , who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes. French cartographers discovered the remnants of an ancient north-south canal running past the east side of Lake Timsah and ending near the north end of the Great Bitter Lake in the second half of the 19th century. (This ancient canal may have followed a course along the shoreline of the Red Sea when the Red Sea once extended north to Lake Timsah.) In the 20th century the northward extension of this ancient canal was discovered, extending from Lake Timsah to the Ballah Lakes, which was subsequently dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt by extrapolating the dates of ancient sites erected along its course.

However it remains unknown whether or not this is the same as Sesostris' ancient canal and whether it was used as a waterway or as a defence against the east. The reliefs of the Punt expedition under Hatshepsut 1470 BC depict seagoing vessels carrying the expeditionary force returning from Punt. This has given rise to the suggestion that, at the time, a navigable link existed between the Red Sea and the Nile. Evidence seems to indicate its existence by the 13th century BC during the time of Ramesses II. Canals dug by Necho, Darius I and Ptolemy Remnants of an ancient west-east canal, running through the ancient Egyptian cities of Bubastis, Pi-Ramesses, and Pithom were discovered by Napoleon Bonaparte and his cadre of engineers and cartographers in 1799. According to the Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus , about 600 BC, Necho II undertook to dig a west-east canal through the Wadi Tumilat between Bubastis and Heroopolis, and perhaps continued it to the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea.

Regardless, Necho is reported as having never completed his project. Herodotus was told that 120,000 men perished in this undertaking, but this figure is doubtless exaggerated. According to Pliny the Elder, Necho's extension to the canal was approximately 57 English miles , equal to the total distance between Bubastis and the Great Bitter Lake, allowing for winding through valleys that it necessarily had to pass through. The length that Herodotus tells us, of over 1000 stadia (i.e., over 114 miles), must be understood to include the entire distance between the Nile and the Red Sea at that time. With Necho's death, work was discontinued. Herodotus tells us that the reason the project was abandoned was because of a warning received from an oracle that others would benefit by its successful completion. In fact, Necho's war with Nebuchadrezzar II most probably prevented the canal to be continued. Necho's project was finally completed by Darius I of Persia, who conquered Egypt.

We are told that by Darius's time a natural waterway passage which had existed between the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea in the vicinity of the Egyptian town of Shaluf (alt. Chalouf or Shaloof), located just south of the Great Bitter Lake, had become so blocked with silt that Darius necessarily needed to clear it out so as to allow navigation once again. According to Herodotus, Darius's canal was wide enough that two triremes could pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse. Darius commemorated his achievement with a number of granite stelae that he set up on the Nile bank, including one near Kabret, and a further one a few miles north of Suez. The Darius Inscriptions read: “ Saith King Darius: I am a Persian. Setting out from Persia, I conquered Egypt. I ordered this canal dug from the river called the Nile that flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. When the canal had been dug as I ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, even as I intended. ” The canal left the Nile at Bubastis.

An inscription on a pillar at Pithom records that in 270 or 269 BC it was again reopened, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. In Arsinoe, Ptolemy constructed a navigable lock, with sluices , between the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea which allowed the passage of vessels but prevented salt water from the Red Sea from mingling with the fresh water in the canal. Receding Red Sea and the dwindling Nile The Red Sea gradually receded over the centuries, its coastline slowly moving farther and farther southward away from Lake Timsah and the Great Bitter Lake to its present coastline today. Coupled with persistent accumulations of Nile silt, maintenance and repair of Ptolemy's canal became increasingly cumbersome over each passing century. Two hundred years after the construction of Ptolemy's canal, Cleopatra seems to have had no west-east waterway passage, because the Pelusiac branch of the Nile River, which had fed Ptolemy's west-east canal, had by that time dwindled, being choked with silt.

Old Cairo to the Red Sea By the 8th century, we are told, a navigable canal existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea, but accounts vary as to who ordered its construction—either Trajan or 'Amr ibn al-'As, or Omar the Great. This canal reportedly linked to the River Nile at Old Cairo and ended near modern Suez. The Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur is said to have ordered this canal closed so as to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors. Repair by Tāriqu l-Ḥākim Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is claimed to have repaired the Old Cairo to Red Sea passageway, but only briefly, circa 1000 AD, as it soon "became choked with sand." However, we are told that parts of this canal still continued to fill in during the Nile's annual inundations. Napoleon discovers an ancient canal Napoleon Bonaparte's interest in finding the remnants of an ancient waterway passage culminated in a cadre of archaeologists , scientists , cartographers and engineers scouring the area beginning in the latter months of 1798.

Their findings, recorded in the Description de l'Égypte, include detailed maps that depict the discovery of an ancient canal extending northward from the Red Sea and then westward toward the Nile . Napoleon had contemplated the construction of another, modern, north-south canal to join the Mediterranean and Red Sea. But his project was abandoned after the preliminary survey erroneously concluded that the Red Sea was 10 metres (33 ft) higher than the Mediterranean, making a locks-based canal too expensive and very long to construct. The Napoleonic survey commission's error came from fragmented readings mostly done during wartime, which resulted in imprecise calculations. Though by this time unnavigable, the ancient route from Bubastis to the Red Sea still channeled water in spots as late as 1861 and as far east as Kassassin.

Construction by Suez Canal Company In 1854 and 1856 Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Sa'id Pasha, the viceroy of Egypt, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations, according to plans created by Linant de Bellefonds, a French engineer and high level official of the Egyptian administration of canals, bridges and roads, and by Italian engineer Alois Negrelli. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening. De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with Sa'id, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat during the 1830s. The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez) came into being on 15 December, 1858 and work started on the shore of the future Port Said on 25 April 1859. The excavation took some 10 years using forced labour (Corvée) of Egyptian workers during a certain period.

Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that altogether more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed and that thousands of laborers died on the project. The British government had opposed the project of the canal from the outset to its completion. As one of the diplomatic moves against the canal, it disaproved the use of slave labor on the canal (slaves had been banned throughout Europe and Russia by 1723). The British Empire was the major global naval force and officially condemned the forced work and sent armed bedouins to start a revolt among workers. Involuntary labour on the project ceased, and the viceroy condemned the Corvée, halting the project. Angered by the British opportunism, de Lesseps sent a letter to the British government remarking on the British lack of remorse a few years earlier when forced workers died in similar conditions building the British railway in Egypt. Initially international opinion was skeptical and Suez Canal Company shares did not sell well overseas. Britain, the United States , Austria and Russia did not buy any significant number of shares. All French shares were quickly sold in France.

A contemporary British skeptic claimed: “ One thing is sure... our local merchant community doesn't pay practical attention at all to this grand work, and it is legitimate to doubt that the canal's receipts... could ever be sufficient to recover its maintenance fee. It will never become a large ships accessible way in any case. [ (reported by German historian Uwe A. Oster)] ” The canal opened to shipping on 17 November, 1869. Although numerous technical, political, and financial problems had been overcome, the final cost was more than double the original estimate. After the opening of the canal, the Suez Canal Company was in financial difficulties. The remaining works were completed only in 1871, and traffic was below expectations in the first two years. Lesseps therefore tried to increase revenues by interpreting the kind of net ton referred to in the second concession (tonneau de capacité) as meaning a ship's real freight capacity and not only the theoretical net tonnage of the Moorsom System introduced in Britain by the Merchant Shipping Act in 1854.

The ensuing commercial and diplomatic activities resulted in the the International Commission of Constantinople establishing a specific kind of net tonnage and settling the question of tariffs in their protocol of 18 December 1873. This was the origin of the Sues Canal Net Tonnage and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate still used today. The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American transcontinental railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the entire world to be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European penetration and colonisation of Africa. External debts forced Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, to sell his country's share in the canal for £4,000,000 to the United Kingdom in 1875, but French shareholders still held the majority. Prime minister Benjamin Disraeli was accused by William Gladstone of undermining Britain's constitutional system, due to his lack of reference or consent from Parliament when purchasing the shares with funding from the Rothschilds.

The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British; British troops had moved in to protect it during a civil war in Egypt in 1882. They were later to defend the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915. Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the United Kingdom insisted on retaining control over the canal. In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty, and in 1954 the UK agreed to remove its troops, and withdrawal was completed in July 1956. Suez Crisis After the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam due to Egyptian overtures towards the Soviet Union , Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956 and transferred it to the Suez Canal Authority, intending to finance the dam project using revenue from the canal. This provoked the Suez Crisis, in which the UK , France and Israel hatched a plan to invade Egypt.

The intention was for Israel to invade on the ground, and for the Anglo-French partnership to give air and other support, later to intervene to resolve the crisis and control the canal. To stop the war from spreading and to save the British from what he thought was a disastrous action, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, proposed the creation of the very first United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure access to the canal for all and an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai. On 4 November 1956, a majority of nations at the United Nations voted for Pearson's peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in the Sinai Peninsula unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting financial pressure on the British government, which then agreed to withdraw its troops. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result of damage and ships intentionally sunk under orders from Nasser the canal was closed until April 1957, when it was cleared with UN assistance. A UN force (UNEF) was established to maintain the neutrality of the canal and the Sinai Peninsula.

Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 In May 1967 President Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces out of the Sinai Peninsula, including the Suez Canal area. Despite Israeli objections in the United Nations, the peacekeepers were withdrawn and the Egyptian army took up positions on the Israeli border, closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. The canal itself had been closed to Israeli shipping since 1949, except for a short period in 1951-1952. These actions were key factors in the Israeli decision to launch a pre-emptive attack on Egypt in June 1967, and to capture the Sinai Peninsula to the Suez Canal. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, also called the Six Day War , the canal was closed by an Egyptian blockade until 5 June 1975. As a result, fourteen cargo ships known as "The Yellow Fleet" remained trapped in the canal for over eight years.

In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War , the canal was the scene of a major crossing by the Egyptian army into Israeli-occupied Sinai, and in the later stage of the war, a crossing by the Israeli army into mainland Egypt. Much wreckage from this conflict remains visible along the canal's edges. In reaction to the Yom Kippur War the United States initiated Operation Nimbus Moon. The helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) was sent to the Canal, carrying twelve RH-53D minesweeping helicopters of HM-12. These cleared the Suez Canal between May and December 1974. When the operations were completed, the Suez Canal and its lakes were considered 99% clear of mines. The Canal was then reopened in 1975. The UNEF mandate expired in 1979.

Despite the efforts of the United States, Israel, Egypt, and others to obtain an extension of the UN role in observing the peace between Israel and Egypt, as called for under the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the mandate could not be extended because of the veto by the USSR in the security council , at the request of Syria. Accordingly, negotiations for a new observer force in the Sinai produced the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), stationed in Sinai in 1981 in coordination with a phased Israeli withdrawal. It is there under agreements between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and other nations. . Capacity The canal allows passage of ships up to 62 feet draft or 210,000 deadweight tons and up to a maximum height of 68 m above water level and a maximum beam of 254 ft 3 in (under certain conditions). Improvements are planned to increase draft to 22 m (72 ft) by 2010, allowing passage of fully-laden supertankers . Some supertankers are too large.

Others can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat to reduce their draft, transit, and reload at the other end of the canal. Alternatives The main alternative is travelling around Cape Agulhas at the south of the African continent. This is the route for ships which are too large, and was the route before the canal was constructed and when the canal was closed. In the early twenty-first century this route is often taken due to increasing piracy in Somalia and the high canal tolls. Before the canal's opening in 1869 goods were sometimes offloaded from ships and carried overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Operation The canal has no locks due to the flat terrain, and the minor sea level difference between each end is inconsequential. There is one shipping lane with passing areas in Ballah-Bypass near El Qantara and in the Great Bitter Lake. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The first southbound convoy enters the canal in the early morning hours and proceeds to the Great Bitter Lake, where the ships anchor out of the fairway, awaiting passage of the northbound convoy.

The northbound convoy passes the second southbound convoy, which moors in Ballah-Bypass . The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h). The low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ships' wakes. By 1955 approximately two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the canal. About 7.5% of world sea trade is carried via the canal today. In 2008, a total of 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts from the canal totaled $5.381 billion. Average cost per-ship is roughly $250,000.00 New Rules of Navigation that constitute an improvement over the older ones were passed by the board of directors of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to organise vessels’ and tankers’ transit that came into force as at 1 January 2008.

The most important amendments to the Rules include allowing vessels with 62 ft draught to transit and increasing the allowed breadth from 32m up to 40m following improvement operations, as well as imposing a fine on vessels using divers without permission from outside the SCA inside the canal boundaries. The amendments also allow vessels loaded with dangerous cargo, such as radioactive or inflammable materials, to transit after bringing conformity with the latest amendments provided by international conventions. The SCA will also have the right to determine the number of tugs required to assist warships transiting the Canal to achieve the highest degree of safety during transit. The vast canal can handle more ship traffic and larger ships than its main competitor, the Panama Canal . Connections between the shores From north to south connections are: The Suez Canal Bridge, also called the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, is a high-level road bridge at El Qantara. In Arabic, al qantara means "the bridge". It has a 70-metre (230 ft) clearance over the canal and was built with assistance from the Japanese government and by PentaOcean Construction.

El Ferdan Railway Bridge 20 km (12 mi) north of Ismailia was completed in 2001 and is the longest swing span bridge in the world, with a span of 340 m (1100 ft). The previous bridge was destroyed in 1967 during the Arab-Israeli conflict. Pipelines taking fresh water under the canal to Sinai, about 57 km (35 mi) north of Suez, at 30°27.3″N 32°21.0″E. Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel south of the Great Bitter Lake was built in 1983. Because of leakage problems, a [ new water-tight tunnel] was built inside the old one, from 1992 to 1995. The Suez Canal overhead line crossing powerline was built in 1999. A railway on the west bank runs parallel to the canal for its entire length. Environmental impact The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and Red seas.

The Red Sea is about 1.2 m (3.9 ft) higher than the eastern Mediterranean , so the canal serves as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes, which are hypersaline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the eastern Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, and the direction of flow is generally from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, most Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and only few do the opposite. This migratory phenomenon is called Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps) or Erythrean invasion.

The construction of the Aswan High Dam across the River Nile in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile into the eastern Mediterranean, making conditions there even more like the Red Sea, worsening the impact of the invasive species. Invasive species originated from the Red Sea and introduced into the Mediterranean by the construction of the canal have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem, and have serious impacts on the Mediterranean ecology, endangering many local and endemic Mediterranean species. Currently about 300 species from the Red Sea have been identified in the Mediterranean Sea, and there are probably others yet unidentified. The Egyptian government's intent to enlarge the canal have raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that this will worsen the invasion of Red Sea species in the Mediterranean. . Construction of the Suez Canal was preceded by cutting a small fresh-water canal from the Nile delta along Wadi Tumilat to the future canal, with a southern branch to Suez and a northern branch to Port Said. Completed in 1863, these brought fresh water to a previously arid area, initially for canal construction, and subsequently facilitating growth of agriculture and settlements along the canal.

Timeline Circa 1799 — Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Egypt and ordered a feasibility analysis. This reported a supposed 10-metre (33 ft) difference in sea levels and a high cost, so the project was set on standby. Circa 1840 — A second survey found the first one incorrect. A direct link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea would be possible and not be as expensive as expected. 30 November 1854 - The former French consul in Cairo , Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, obtained the first licence for the construction and subsequent operation during 99 years from the Viceroy. 6 January 1856 - Lesseps was provided with a second, more detailed licence. 15 December 1858 - Lesseps established the "Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez" (Said Pacha acquired 22% of the Suez Canal Company, the remainder controlled by French private holders). 25 April 1859 — Official start of the canal construction. 16 November 1869 — The Suez Canal opened; operated and owned by Suez Canal Company.

18 December 1873 - The International Commission of Constantinople establishes the Suez Canal Net Ton and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate (as they are called today) 25 November 1875 — Britain became a minority share holder in the Suez Company, acquiring 44% of the Suez Canal Company. The remainder were controlled by French syndicates. 25 August 1882 — Britain took control of the canal. 2 March 1888 — The Convention of Constantinople renewed the guaranteed right of passage of all ships through the Suez Canal during war and peace (which rights were already part of the licences awarded to Lesseps. 14 November 1936 — Suez Canal Zone established, under British control. 13 June 1956 — Suez Canal Zone restored to Egypt. 26 July 1956 — Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal; all Egyptian assets, rights and obligations of the Suez Canal Company were transferred to the Suez Canal Authority. 5 November 1956 to 22 December 1956 — French, British, and Israeli forces occupied the Suez Canal Zone.

22 December 1956 — Restored to Egypt. 5 June 1967 to 10 June 1975 — Canal closed and blockaded by Egypt, against Israel, sparking the Six-Day War . 10 June 1975 — Suez Canal reopened. 1 January 2008 — New rules of navigation passed on by the Suez Canal Authority come into force.

Presidents of the Suez Canal Company (1858-1956) Before nationalisation: Ferdinand de Lesseps (15 December 1858 – 7 December 1894) Jules Guichard (17 December 1892 – 17 July 1896) (acting for de Lesseps to 7 December 1894) Auguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'Arenberg (3 August 1896 – 1913) Charles Jonnart (19 May 1913 – 1927) Louis de Vogüé (4 April 1927 – 1 March 1948) François Charles-Roux (4 April 1948 – 26 July 1956) Chairmen of the Suez Canal Authority (1956-present) Since nationalisation: Doctor Mohamed Helmy Bahgat Badawy (26 July 1956 – 9 July 1957) Engineer Mahmoud Younis (10 July 1957 – 10 October 1965) Engineer Mash

hour Ahmed Mashhour (14 October 1965 – 31 December 1983) Engineer Mohamed Ezzat Adel (1 January 1984 – December 1995) Admiral Ahmed Ali Fadel (22 January 1996 – Present) British Vice-Consuls of Port Suez (1922-1941) G.

E. A. C. Monck-Mason, 1922 – 1924 G. C. Pierides (acting), 1924 – 1925 Thomas Cecil Rapp, 1925 – 1926 Abbas Barry (acting), 1926 – 1927 E. H. L. Hadwen (acting to 1930), 1927 – 1931 A. N. Williamson-Napier, 1931 – 1934 H. M. Eyres, 1934 – 1936 D. J. M. Irving, 1936 – 1940 R. G. Dundas, 1940 – 1941 British Consuls of Port Suez (1941-1956) R. G. Dundas, 1941 – 1942 H. G. Jakins, 1942 – 1944 W. B. C. W.

Forester, 1944 – 1946 Frederick Herbert Gamble, 1946 – 1947 E. M. M. Brett (acting), 1947 – 1948 C. H. Page, 1948 – 1954 F. J. Pelly, 1954 – 1955 J. A. D. Stewart-Robinson (acting), 1955 – 1956 J. Y. Mulvenny, 1956 Governors of the Suez Canal Zone 14 November 1936 – 24 July 1939: ?

24 July 1939 – 7 May 1941: Sir Archibald Wavell 7 May 1941 – 7 August 1942: Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck 7 August 1942 – 19 February 1943: Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander 19 February 1943 – 6 January 1944: Henry Maitland Wilson 6 January 1944 – June 1946: Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget June 1946 – June 1947: Miles Christopher Dempsey June 1947 – 25 July 1950: Sir John Tredinnick Crocker 25 July 1950 – April 1953: Sir Brian Hubert Robertson April 1953 – 28 September 1953: Sir Cameron Gordon Graham Nicholson 28 September 1953 – 13 June 1956: Sir Charles Frederic Keightley Supreme Allied Commander During the Suez Crisis: 5 November 1956 -

 22 December 1956: Sir Charles Frederic Keightley Popular culture Suez, a film made in 1938, starred Tyrone Power as de Lesseps and Loretta Young as a love interest.

An epic, it is very loosely based on history. The Suez Canal appears in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, where it marks the end of T. E. Lawrence 's march across the Sinai Peninsula to report to his superiors in Cairo. The Suez crisis is mentioned in the 1989 hit song, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel Michael Palin visited the Suez Canal in 1988 as part of his TV adventure series, Around the World in 80 Days. The Suez Canal is also a map in the game Battlefield 2142. The idea of the Suez Canal is mentioned in the Asterix book, Asterix and Cleopatra, when Asterix offers the future assistance of the Gaulish people should Egypt consider a passage linking the Red Sea and the Mediteranean. 1900 years later, this offer was taken up! In the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Vernes, the Nautilus travels through the Suez Canal.

(Wikipedia) Suez Canal Profile - Photos, Wallpapers, Videos, News, Movies, Suez Canal Songs, Pics See more About Suez Canal The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said, and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. The canal is 192 km (119 mi) long with Ismailia, on the west bank, 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the half-way point[1]. It is single-lane with passing places in Ballah By-Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks; seawater flows freely through the canal into the Great Bitter Lake from both the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red Sea in the south, replacing evaporation. The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The canal may be used in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of Suez Canal 101 | The Solari Report Blog Catherine , News & Commentary on February 13, 2011 at 9:02 pm · No Comments From Wikipedia The Suez Canal (Arabic: ???? ??????? Qan?t al-S?wais) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. Ismailia lies on its west bank, 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the half-way point. When first built, the canal was 164 km (102 mi) long and 8 m (26 ft) deep.

After multiple enlargements, the canal is 193.3 km (120.11 mi) long, 24 m (79 ft) deep, and 205 metres (673 ft) wide as of 2010. It consists of the northern access channel of 22 km/14 mi, the canal itself of 162.25 km/100.82 mi and of the southern access channel of 9 km/5.6 mi. Suez Canal Cruises - River Cruises - Breathtaking Cruises Breathtaking Cruises Suez Canal Cruises Introduction to the Suez Canal Completed in November of 1869, the Suez Canal was built as a passageway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Located in Egypt, this passage was designed to eliminate the need for ships to travel the entire way around Africa in order to reach their destination. This manmade canal is just over one hundred and twenty miles long and only seventy-nine feet deep. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is found at Port Tawfik, in the city of Suez.

Most Suez Canal cruises run between the Sinai Peninsula and the Nile River encompassing an area that is rich in culture and history. A trip through the Suez Canal is a beautiful site and the many stops allow visitors to see all the sites and attractions that make this region of the world so fascinating. Weather within the Suez Canal region is good all year round, so you can choose one of the Suez Canal cruises for any time or season of the year. Popular Docking Sites A lot of the Suez Canal cruises begin in Barcelona. Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and is located along the Mediterranean Sea. It is rich in history and was home to the 1992 Olympic Games. If your cruise begins from this port you may want to spend an extra day viewing these sites prior to boarding. The port of Alexandria is another popular stop for Suez Canal cruises, allowing you to go into the town and view the many historic sites. One popular tourist attraction is the Roman Amphitheatre, which includes mosaics and green marble that can still be seen today. There are many temples still standing today that are well worth a visit to see.

Almost all Suez Canal cruises dock at Port Said, which is found at the northern tip of the canal. This visit allows travelers to venture into the historic city of Cairo. This town is home to the Museum of Antiquities, where visitors can view the tomb of the famous King Tut and all his treasures. Dubai includes both historic and modern touches to its cultures. The most popular tourist attraction is the Dubai Museum, which is located in the Fahidi Fort. Its unique building materials include sea rock and gypsum and the fort was built to protect the city in 1800. The museum is packed full of artifacts detailing Dubai’s rich history. Aqaba has great diving excursions that attract divers from all over the world. For a little history, a stop at the Archaeological Museum and Mamluk Fort are both good sites to see. The port of Safaga allows you to venture into town and visit the various unique features this area has to offer. They are most famous for the unique black sand dunes and their crisp, clean unpolluted air. They have beautiful beaches and the water is highly saline, which is very good for your skin.

People can also be found at one of the mineral springs whose water is said to help people with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Scuba diving and windsurfing are popular watersports in this area.

Question: The Suez Canal has its southern terminus at Port Tawfik, Suez. Where is its northern terminus?
Answer: Port Said